The present disclosure relates to well applications of polymer materials in well tools and/or as well tools, for example, plugs and plug seats, fluid loss systems, well seal tools, and/or cementing tools.
Well tools are used in various operations in a wellbore, such as completion well tools in a production well, drilling well tools in a well being drilled, and testing well tools in a well being tested. Many varieties of downhole well tools are used to drill, treat, and/or produce wells. In some instances, activating and/or sealing a wellbore, a restriction in a wellbore, and/or a well tool is an important operation, for example, in hydrocarbon-producing wells. Tools and materials used to complete well operations sometimes vary based on a specific operation of a well tool. For example, metal balls are often used to engage and plug a ball seat to pressurize a downhole tubing, set a packer in a wellbore, activate a sliding sleeve, or for other operations. In some examples, swellable rubber is sometimes used in isolation packers to swell and seal against walls of a wellbore. Downhole well tools are sometimes limited to a single operation, becoming a restriction after the operation is complete. For example, after a metal ball is used to plug a ball seat, the metal ball is sometimes unusable for another operation and may constrict a fluid flow path in a well.
Like reference symbols in the various drawings indicate like elements.